Tricky Confession
by illutia mist
Summary: Ruka was annoyed and confused. What's wrong with him? And Koko told Mikan Ruka's secret. What's that?
1. 1st Trick: The Message

**So, hello again, good readers!! As there's a reader that requested for Hotaru and Ruka part too, I finally decided to make another sequel for them.**

**I dedicated this story to haruh, who had requested a story about them. Hope you like it!XD**

**First to first, I put on a disclaimer here: I don't own Gakuen Alice and its characters!**

**Sequel from what you ask? This is a sequel from A Miracle Night, What I Want, and A Sweet Retaliation. Woah…such a long sequels…**

**As you know, I made all those stories above on special days. It includes this one too. Can you guess what day it is?**

**For now, let the story begins…**

TIK TIK TIK TIK TIK

What's that sound you asked?

TIK TIK TIK TIK TIK

Well, it should be another nice sunny day today, but…

"What? It's raining?!"

Yeah, it was.

"But the weather report said that it'll be sunny today!"

One thing that needed to be planned in your mind: weather report isn't always right.

"I didn't bring my umbrella…"

Well, it's bad for her. And no, I'm not that stupid narrator in the chit-chat room in When I Met You or a POV of someone, if you thought so.

The one who was whining for sometime ago because of the rain was our dearly brunette, Mikan Sakura, who was watching the window while in the middle of lesson.

Do you think it's Narumi's class?

If you thought so, then you're wrong.

It's Jinno's class.

And as usual, our dearly brunette was too drowning in her own thoughts to realize that she's in the middle of Jinno's class.

And as usual too, this caused her…

"Sakura! You're not paying attention in my class again!" the devil teacher scowled her, making her whip her head to him in surprise. "What did you look at just now?" he asked dangerously.

"Eh? Hehe…" She scratched her cheek. "…Rain?"

Mikan swore she saw an evil glint in the teacher's eyes before he said, "Meet me after the school's over, Sakura. I'll give you a detention for this."

"Yes…Sir…" she responded unwillingly. 'Geez! I just looked at the rain for two minutes and he already gave me a detention! What an evil he is!' she complained in her thought.

Kokoro Yome, who read her mind by accidentally at that time, giggled silently.

Being in bad mood, Mikan caught the sight of him giggling in silence. She then told him in her thought, 'What's funny, Koko? He's really an evil!'

Koko looked at her and shook his head. It meant 'nothing'.

Mikan looked at him in annoyance for the last time before she shifted her gaze back to the rain. 'I hope this rain will stop after the detention is over later,' she thought while staring at the rain that started to pour harder.

Three pairs of eyes glanced at her silently. Two from those three pairs, which were crimson eyes and violet orbs, thought that she's stupid because she was spacing out once again. And as the result, she definitely would be scolded by the evil teacher again. While the rest, which was the owner of the cerulean orbs, looked at her worriedly, hoping the teacher wouldn't catch her spacing out again.

From the brunette, he shifted his attention to a certain raven-haired girl who was still glancing at her brunette best friend. He felt confused and annoyed.

Why?

It's because of the strange answer which came out from the stoic inventor's mouth that morning.

Ruka kept on staring at her while reminiscing what happened that morning in his mind.

-x-

As usual, he went to the class with his raven-haired best friend, Natsume Hyuuga. Natsume didn't bother to pick up her girlfriend that day because the brunette had told him she had something to do, so she had to go to the class early.

And of course, it wasn't another calm day for them, if all of you still remembered what had happened on last St. White Day. All girls were about to crash them if it wasn't because of Natsume's alice that protected them from the fan girls' attack.

And thanks to the fire caster's alice too, they could arrive at their class in one piece.

When they opened the door, a familiar cheery brunette approached them and greeted them.

"Good morning, Ruka-pyon! Good morning, Natsume!"

"Good morning, Sakura," he replied back as he smiled at her.

"Hn," was his raven-haired best friend's reply.

Ruka glanced inside the classroom, his cerulean eyes was searching for someone. But somehow, he couldn't find that person. He sighed. Mikan looked at him in wonder.

"What's wrong, Ruka-pyon?" she asked, catching his attention.

He smiled at her, trying to cover his action before. "Nothing, Sakura."

After that, Natsume walked to his seat, followed by Mikan. Ruka was still standing at the door when someone spoke, "Can't you move? You're blocking my way."

Ruka turned his head to the person after he heard that familiar voice. His cerulean eyes then met with a pair of violet orbs on the stoic face of Hotaru Imai.

"Good morning, Imai," he greeted her with a smile. He finally found the person he had been searching for.

Hotaru looked at him without any emotion on her face. After a few seconds passed by, she spoke, "Do I know you?"

At this question, his eyes widened.

No one paid attention to them at that time. He's the only one who heard her words, which made him felt like being pushed from a cliff and falling into an endless darkness.

"It's me, Ruka. Are you kidding me, Imai?" he asked in disbelief.

She stared at him for a moment. "Sorry. I really don't know who you are," she said as she walked passing him into the classroom, leaving him freezing at the door.

After freezing for two minutes, he turned his head to look at her. Mikan was talking to her at that time, along with Anna and Nonoko. It looked like everything was just normal.

But something was wrong.

Hotaru didn't know him.

And this made him feel like being swallowed by the darkness itself.

-x-

He had been thinking what had happened to the Ice Queen for the whole time. When Jinno thought he paid attention to his class, he actually didn't.

He's really shocked.

He had a big crush on her and now everything was blown up just because she had forgotten anything about him.

He's really depressed.

'I should have just told her my feeling if I know this would happen…' he thought in regret.

-x-

"I think…Imai forget about me…" Ruka said while sighing.

Mikan looked at him in shock as she dropped her chopsticks. "…Eh?" was her reaction at that time, not believing what she had just heard.

Ruka and Mikan were having lunch at the cafeteria at that time. Hotaru went to her lab to check on her inventions, while Natsume went to a mission. Mikan knew this because the raven-haired boy suddenly disappeared after the class was over. And the rest of the gang, Anna and friends, had their own business at that time.

"Are you sure?" she asked, still having a little shock in her voice. "Because I talked to Hotaru this morning and it seemed like she's just fine."

"A hundred percent sure. I heard her tell me that she doesn't know me twice," he said with a sad face.

The brunette stared at him intently. "Ruka, may I ask one thing?" she asked as a serious expression appeared on her angelic face.

Ruka looked at her then smiled and said, "Go on."

"Do you like Hotaru?" She startled him with her question, making the blonde-haired boy's face turned red.

"Sa-Sakura?"

"Do you like her?" she repeated. "Koko told me that you like her."

'Darn you, Koko! I'll feed you to the tiger later!' he thought annoyingly while his face turned redder and redder. "…Just as a friend," he managed to say as he recovered from his reddening face.

"Really?" she asked again while raising an eyebrow.

"Positively," he quickly answered, hoping it would erase her suspicion.

"Thought so. Why Koko said you like her so suddenly?" she mumbled as she continued eating her lunch.

"Haha…" Ruka just sweat dropped at her answer. 'This girl sure is dense.'

-x-

KRRIIIINNNNGGG!!

The class had been over.

Ruka was on his way to the dormitory. The rain had stopped, leaving its trace on the ground and trees which accompanied him along his way.

On the way to the dormitory, he met the person he didn't want to face right now, Hotaru Imai.

She was walking in front of him while the animal prince was just staring at her figure from behind.

Feeling being stared, Hotaru turned her head and caught him staring at her in silence. "What?" she asked coolly.

"Uh…hi," he greeted her awkwardly. She raised an eyebrow at this.

Ruka averted his gaze to the ground for a few seconds then looked back at her. "…Do you really forget me?" he asked hesitantly.

"And if I do?" she asked back, challenging him.

"What has happened?" He stared at her intently.

"You think?" she asked back again. Ruka thought he heard an annoyed tone when she said this. He shifted his gaze back to the ground.

Silence engulfed them for a while.

"…Imai…no…Hotaru, I want to say something to you," he started a conversation. Hotaru didn't give any movement or reply as she waited him to continue. "I should have said this to you before if I know this would happen, but I didn't say it. I think I'm as stubborn as Natsume before."

"…What?" the inventor asked without any interest in her voice.

"I…" He was hesitant.

"…"

"I…"

"If you prefer that 'I' thing than the other words, then I'll leave you now," she started to walk away when Ruka suddenly said, "I love you, Hotaru!"

The words were loud enough for her to hear. She stopped on her spot while Ruka was looking down at his feet. The stoic inventor turned to look at him, but still with her expressionless face.

And the silence surrounded them once again.

There was just wind which blew softly around them, swaying their hairs and uniforms gently.

"Have you ever made any mistake to me?" Hotaru suddenly asked, breaking the silence that froze between them.

Ruka looked up. "…Pardon?"

"I won't repeat," she said coldly.

Ruka stared at her confusedly while tracing his memories, trying to remember if he ever made any mistake to her.

And he remembered something.

Yesterday, he was in a hurry because he heard the animals in the barn suddenly going wild. When he was running at the corridor, he bumped into a raven-haired girl that suddenly appeared from the other side. He quickly helped her stood up and apologized before he left to the barn.

"I think so…" he muttered unconsciously.

"What is that?" she asked impatiently.

"I bumped into you yesterday," he told her. "But I have apologized to you."

After a second, an insane possibility appeared in his head.

He lifted his head and looked at her, wide-eyed. "Don't tell me you have selective amnesia after I bumped into you yesterday!" he suddenly concluded something nonsense. His expression was really stupid at that time.

CLICK! CLICK!

A flash of light blinded his eyes for a second. "Hey! What is-"

"This should be an enough payment for that, Nogi," she cut him off.

Ruka stared at her as he blinked.

Then he realized that Hotaru just called his surname. "You…don't have amnesia?" he asked in shock.

The blackmailer just glanced at him. "Happy April Fool, bunny boy," she said while walking away.

Ruka stood still on his spot as he remembered what day it was.

It was 1st April. April Fool. A day in a year where you could lie or trick people officially.

"You fooled me?!" he asked in disbelief. "What have I done to you?"

Hotaru stopped walking. She then looked at him with her stoic face. "You broke my new invention when you bumped into me yesterday. I think this would be a good way to pay you back," she explained heartlessly.

Ruka couldn't believe what he had just heard. He bent down his head, covering his eyes with his blonde bangs. "I can't believe you did that," was all he muttered before he ran away from that place, thinking that it's the worst thing the inventor ever did to him.

He cared for her.

That's why, he was afraid and shocked when Hotaru said she didn't know him.

And he just made a fool of himself in front of her.

Hotaru watched his figure disappearing between the trees. "Stupid," she murmured. She then proceeded her way back to the dorm.

Unknown to her, a certain figure was leaning on a branch of a tree, listening to their conversation all the time. The figure looked at the direction where Ruka had just gone, then sighed.

After making sure there's no one at that place, the figure jumped down and walked out from the shadow of the tree, revealing his messy raven hair and glowing crimson eyes.

"What a troubled love life for them," he mumbled as he walked to a certain direction to pick up a certain brunette.

-x-

"What's wrong, Natsume?" the brunette asked a certain raven-haired who was sitting next to her and watching her doing her math assignment which was given by Jinno as her detention. "You've been spacing out for a while."

"Hn," he responded. "Your skirt's zipper is opened."

"EH?!" she screamed in shock as she whipped her gaze to her skirt in panic, just to find her skirt's zipper was still closed tightly.

Mikan looked at Natsume and found his trademark smirk on his face. She bent her eyebrows in annoyance then…

"NATSUME! YOU TRICKED ME!"

"Got you, Polka. It's April Fool," he said, still smirking. "How could you fall into that simple trick?"

Mikan blinked. "Today is April Fool?"

Natsume rolled his eyes, amazed at the brunette's low memory. Well, it's not just her who forgot about April Fool. Ruka also forgot. "Yes, it is, Polka. Today is 1st April," he answered in bored tone.

The brunette blinked again. "…Is that so?"

"Why?" he asked after he felt something in her tone.

"You know, Ruka-pyon said Hotaru forgot about him. But I didn't find anything strange in her since this morning," she told him while continuing to do her assignment. "Do you think Ruka-pyon was trying to fool me because today is April Fool?"

Natsume stared at her in silence for a while then muttered, "Stupid."

A vein popped on Mikan's head as she glared at him. "He's not the actor. He's the victim," he cleared.

Mikan tilted her head in confusion.

"That means Imai is the one who fooled him," he cleared once again, a bit irritated.

"Hotaru fooled him?" she tried to absorb what he meant. "Why should she?"

"Figures," was the first word that escaped from his lips before he continued, "He broke her new invention yesterday."

"How do you know?"

"I accidentally heard their conversation when I just came back from the mission thirty minutes ago." He put his right elbow on the table as he cupped his face with his right palm.

Mikan's eyes widened. "You eavesdropped!" she accused him, which gained her a hit on her head. "OUCH!"

"You're too loud, Polka. Besides, I didn't eavesdrop. It's a coincidence." He felt annoyed with her girlfriend's extreme reaction.

Mikan rubbed her sore head. And when her eyes met his, it stared at him in confusion. "…Do I know you?" she asked.

Her question just gained a sigh from him. "Stop that, Polka-dots. You can't trick me," he said, but a little feeling of afraid had appeared in the corner of his heart.

Mikan furrowed her eyebrows. "No, I'm serious. Who are you?" She got annoyed at his answer.

Natsume looked at her in surprise. 'Seriously?' he thought in disbelief as his crimson eyes widened.

They stared at each other for a few minutes. Silence fell between them as they locked their eyes at each other.

Then the brunette's lips curved into a small smile. At first, the raven-haired boy got wondered at the smile, but the wonder was gone when she suddenly laughed out softly. "Hahaha! You should see your expression just now, Natsume! Hahaha!"

The surprise expression on his face directly turned into a frown after he realized that the brunette just tricked him.

He scowled.

But he had to admit he was shocked when he almost believed her a few minutes ago.

Well, now he knew how Ruka felt when Hotaru said she didn't know him.

It's a feeling of afraid of losing someone who was precious to you.

"Stupid Polka-dots," the fire caster said as he looked away.

Hearing those mocking words, a vein popped on Mikan's head. "What's with those words?" she scowled him.

"Don't do that again," he muttered, almost whispering.

"Hm?"

"Nothing." He still didn't look at her.

"…Are you mad?" she asked him softly, feeling guilty.

"…"

"It's okay if you don't want to talk to me now," she said as she continued doing her assignment.

Natsume glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, watching her doing her assignment. He caught a glimpse of her expression which showed she had trouble with a question now.

"Which?" he asked suddenly, making the brunette face him.

"Umm…this one…?" she said unsurely while pointing her pencil to a certain question.

Natsume didn't say clearly what he asked before. But somehow, Mikan could understand that it had something to do with her assignment.

The crimson-eyed boy took a look at the question for a few seconds then took her pencil and wrote a formula beside the question.

"Try using this formula," he said simply while handing back the pencil to her.

Mikan took her pencil back. But before Natsume released it, something that was unexpected by her happened.

The fire caster kissed her softly on the cheek, surprising her with his action.

It last for a few seconds before he finally pulled back both of his lips and his hand then looked away, hiding his crimson eyes behind his raven bangs.

It took Mikan a minute before she finally recoiled from her shock.

As all had been told in that kiss, she could feel he didn't mad at her. A smile slowly found its way on her face as she said, "Thank you, Natsume."

"Hn."

-x-

Ruka opened his eyes, just to find he was lying on the grass with trees surrounding him. He sat up slowly and felt a pain on his forehead.

"What happened?" he asked while wincing at the sting pain on his forehead. He traced his memories for a while, and then he remembered what happened to him before all things suddenly turned black and he found himself lying on the grass on the next second.

After leaving the place where he thought Hotaru had turned him down, he ran into a random direction without looking what was standing before him; until he slammed his forehead into a thing in front him which he thought was a big tree on the next second.

After that, everything turned black.

Ruka looked up and saw the blue color that painted the sky before had been replaced by dark night color. He let out a sigh as he stared at the night sky, a desperate sigh. He remembered what happened between him and Hotaru that afternoon. He didn't know how to describe his feeling now.

Embarrassed? Annoyed? Anger?

…

…Hate?

"What are you doing here at this time, bunny boy?"

That simple sentence startled him. Not only because he was alone at that time, but also because the voice was so familiar in his ear.

And to his answer, a raven-haired girl with a pair of violet orbs appeared behind him in her purple pajamas.

Ruka stole a glance at her then he looked to nowhere in front of him. He still felt a little mad at her because of that afternoon incident.

"What do you want?" he asked irritatingly.

"My idiots tracker suddenly beeped so loud just now, so I decided to check what the cause is," she explained plainly. "Then I found you here."

"Why do you care anyway?" he muttered as he clenched his fist.

There's no reply to his question. Instead, a sound of ruffling grass was heard approaching him. He could feel another presence sitting beside him when the sound was gone.

"What are you mad at anyway?" the inventor's plain voice could be heard coming from his side.

"Are you stupid?! Of course I'm mad at you!" Ruka snapped, annoyed.

"And what is that for?" she asked as if it's not a big deal to be mad at.

"Because you played with my mind just for that unreasonable thing!" he said.

"Unreasonable? You broke my new invention," she defended in annoyance but still calm.

"But I didn't know about that! You could have just told me!" he retorted back.

"Yeah. And what would you do?" she challenged him.

"Anything!" he exclaimed. "Just!"

Hotaru raised an eyebrow at the last word, urging him to continue.

"Just…don't do that to me again…" he lowered his voice as his eyes glanced to the other direction. "You scared me back then…"

"You scared?" she asked without any interest. "Then you should be prepared for the next April Fool."

Upon hearing this, Ruka directly whipped his head to her, earning a little pain on his neck in the process. "You'll do that again next year?!" he asked in shock while rubbing his in-pain-neck gently.

"Just think about it. Fooling you while making money. Why not?" she said nonchalantly.

The animal prince stared at her in disbelief.

"But maybe it'll be a little different," she added as she stood up.

Before Hotaru could walk further, Ruka suddenly asked, "What's your answer?"

She grew quiet for a few seconds before she finally said, "What is your hope?"

Ruka was confused at her answer. He tried to understand what it meant.

'_What is your hope?'_

'My hope…' he thought, 'It is…'

His face brightened for a bit as he stood up and said, "You're tricking me again, aren't you?"

Hotaru moved her face a little, enough for her to give him a glance. "Take a look at your watch, Nogi." After she said that, she continued to walk away.

At first, Ruka didn't understand what she meant. He lifted his left hand and looked at his digital wrist watch.

'What's wrong with my watch?' he thought while eyeing the thing on his wrist. As he looked at it longer, his lips curved into a small smile.

He looked up and spotted the inventor walking away not too far from that place. "Wait! Hotaru!" he called as he chased her.

As he caught up with her, he moved his left hand and laced his fingers with hers. And to his surprise, she didn't hit him for that.

"Are you really here to check up on the cause of your idiot tracker's noise?" he asked her suddenly.

Hotaru glanced at him then she spoke, "Only idiots will believe that."

Ruka chuckled. "Does that mean I'm an idiot too?"

"It's obvious," was her answer as the two of them walked back to the dormitory, hand in hand.

Do you wonder what he saw on his watch is?

It's just a simple numbers.

00.05

Did you get the message?

Well, he did.

**And that's it!**

**So, good readers, do you enjoy the story? I hope so!XD**

**Thank you for reading and please review, okay? If you don't mind, please include the answer in the review. What is the question? The question is in the last part of the story.**

'**Did you get the message?' **

**That's the question. If yes, please tell me what the message is, okay?**

**See you in the next fics!!XD**


	2. 2nd Trick: The Answer

**Hi! Hi!XD**

**Uh, well, I wondered if all of you could get the answer, so I decided to make another chapter from Tricky Confession for the answer.**

**Okay, first to first, I want to disclaim: I don't own Gakuen Alice and its character!!**

**I dedicated this chapter to all the readers and the reviewer:**

**MikanXNatsumefan101**

**Yamashita Michiyo**

**Uchiha Sesshoumaru**

**sammae18**

**mizxpiggy**

**Miu The Princess Of Nature**

'**spoiler-me'**

**haruh**

**Ryuamakusa4eva**

**hammylove**

**Irumi Kanzaki, who agreed to make another chapter from this story for the answer **

**And least but not last, cerespallas, who has helped me to solve the problem about those confusing freaking tenses. Hahaha!XD**

**I thank you all for reading and reviewing Tricky Confession and the other readers that have passed by for reading. I thank you all from the deep of my heart.**

**Before I start, have all of you guessed the message?**

**Then, here we go, the answer for the message of Hotaru's tricky confession…and another answer for another last question…**

In that cold windy night, Ruka's hope had finally come true.

A certain raven-haired girl he had been dreaming of for so long was walking by his side, letting him held her hand without hitting or blackmailing him.

And Ruka felt really glad for the Ice Queen had accepted his feeling.

After the two had gone from that place, a ruffling sound of leaves could be heard from a certain tree which was standing not too far from that place.

And that tree was the infamous Sakura tree.

"Mmph!"

A muffled sound could be heard from that tree. Who could it be?

"Tch. Can't you stop muffling? You almost blew our cover up."

Another irritated voice came from the tree.

…Let's take a look closely.

There, on the Sakura tree, were two people sitting on one of its thick branches.

One of those two was a boy with raven hair and crimson eyes. One of his hands held onto the tree trunk while the other one was covering another person's mouth that was sitting beside him on the tree branch.

That another person had a long auburn hair tied into two pigtails and her hazel eyes were glaring at the crimson-eyed boy in irritation.

Looking at her glare, Natsume just raised an eyebrow. "If you promise to be silent, I'll pull back my hand. Got it?" he proposed a condition to her. The brunette glared at him more while he just looked at her waiting for her answer.

After a few seconds, she nodded slowly, unwillingly and unpleased. Natsume stared at her for five more seconds before he finally pulled back his hand from her mouth.

As he pulled back his hand, he could see a small pout was formed by her lips.

He shifted his crimson eyes from her pouting lips to her eyes and found those hazel orbs staring at him in annoyance.

"What?" he asked, pretending not knowing the reason why she stared at him like that.

"…" The brunette just stayed silent and looked away.

"Polka."

"…"

"…Playing tough, aren't we?" he teased her as a smirk appeared on his face.

"…"

Being fed enough with the silence, Natsume moved his hand up and cupped her cheek, forcing her to look at him. "I'll just kiss you then," he said simply. He didn't fail to recognize the small pink tinge that appeared on both of her cheeks even though her face still showed she's irritated.

His smirk widened.

And this smirk just annoyed her more. "No, you won't," she finally muttered.

Natsume raised an eyebrow while his smirk was still on his handsome face. "And why is that?"

"Uh…I…I…" the brunette stuttered as she moved her orbs to the left and right, searching for a way out.

"What?" He enjoyed her reaction.

"I'll jump!" she blurted out.

"You won't dare," Natsume retorted lazily.

A vein popped on Mikan's head after he said that. In her ears, it's heard like he underestimated her. She fumed at his answer then took a deep breath before…

"YOU SAID THAT I WON'T DARE? WELL, THEN YOU'RE WRONG BECAUSE I-WOAH!!"

Before she could finish her sentence, she lost her balance on the tree branch because she yelled furiously while moving too much.

But before she could close her eyes and ask for help, a strong arm held her back preventing her from falling. And when she was aware, she felt something warm wrapping around her.

She didn't have to look up to know what it was.

…Or who it was.

"Tch. Stupid little girl," the voice murmured in her left ear, "you almost broke your back bone."

For a moment, Mikan forgot her irritation at him. She stayed in his warm embrace silently, feeling comfortable with it.

Natsume moved a bit, shifting his position a little while leaning his back on the tree trunk. Mikan was still safe in his embrace. They're still on the tree branch as Natsume looked at the starry sky in silence.

"…Natsume…" the brunette finally found her voice.

"Hn."

"Ruka-pyon said he confessed to Hotaru this afternoon. Does that mean he like her more than a friend?" she asked as she pulled back from his embrace, making the crimson-eyed boy stare at her with his twisting eyebrows.

"Are you stupid? It's so obvious, Polka," was his answer.

"…Why would he lie to me by saying he just like her as a friend?" she pouted.

"Because you're too stupid to realize that he lied to you."

Mikan looked up and her hazel eyes met the crimson one. "Then why Hotaru doesn't answer his confession?"

"She has answered it, little girl," Natsume said while holding her left pigtailed-hair.

She arched an eyebrow. "When? They just talked about some weird things after that."

The raven-haired boy let out a sigh at his girlfriend's dense thinking. "Do you know what Ruka's hope is?" he asked. The brunette simply shook her head. Natsume looked at her in bored. "How dense you could be?"

"Hello? How do I know what Ruka-pyon's hope?!" she retorted irritatingly, "I can't read his mind!" Then she stopped after she said that; surprised expression was on her face. "Oh!"

The crimson-eyed boy raised an eyebrow at her sudden action. "What?"

"Koko told me that Ruka-pyon like Hotaru," she mumbled while recalling the moment when the mind reader told her the news.

And this left without unnoticed by the fire caster beside her.

"Now you get it," he said.

Mikan looked straight at his eyes once again. "So, his hope is Hotaru has the same feeling with him?"

"Sort of."

"So, when Hotaru asked what his hope is, does that mean…she reciprocated his feeling?" she asked again while staring at the raven-haired boy, wanting to know if her hypothesis was correct.

"Is there another possibility?" Natsume replied lazily.

"Then…what does it mean when Hotaru told him to take a look at his watch when he asked if she tricked him again?" Mikan was curious.

Natsume sighed and asked, "Did you take a look at your wrist watch when she said that before?"

She nodded.

"What's the time back then?"

Mikan put a finger on her chin while looking at nothing up there, trying to remember. "Um…00.05…?"

"So?"

"It's…very early in the morning…?" she said sheepishly.

And this answer earned her a light poke on her forehead from Natsume. "Hey! What's that for?!" she complained while covering her forehead with both of her hands.

"For your idiocy," he replied simply.

"…Pervert…" the brunette muttered while pouting, irritated.

"You can cheat or trick people officially when it's 1st April. And the clock showed it's 00.05 at that time," the fire caster explained impatiently. "If you still can't guess it, then I'll hit that stupid head of yours," he added in annoyance.

"…Um…then it's been 2nd April…and…" Mikan paused as her eyes widened once again.

Looked like she had gotten the message…

"…Hotaru didn't trick him again…?" she spoke in a low voice.

Natsume just stared at her, waiting for her next reaction. Mikan stared back at him as she tried to absorb all of the explanations.

…

…

…

"WHAT?! SHE LIKES HIM BACK?!" she shouted, shocked.

The raven-haired boy flinched a little. "Can you not shout that loud?" he commented in annoyance, "Stars."

At the last word, her face turned red. "NATSUME! YOU'RE PERVERT!!" she blushed furiously while punching him on the shoulder a bit hard.

Natsume caught her wrist, stopping her from both shouting and punching him. "Have you forgotten why we're here?" he reminded her as he stared at her straight in the eyes.

The brunette stopped. She blinked twice before she answered, "Um…because the fan girls chased you…?"

"Then stop shouting. They'll find us here if you keep on doing that," he said as he let go off her wrists from his grasp.

Natsume closed his eyes and leaned back on the tree trunk while Mikan watched him in silence as she recalled what had happened before both of them ended on the tree branch.

After Mikan finished her detention's assignment that afternoon, Jinno came into the classroom on time. She turned in her assignment to him then walked out from the classroom with Natsume.

But fate could be cruel sometimes.

The fan girls spotted them and chased them, and their amount kept increasing from time to time.

And here they were, sitting on the tree branch, hiding from the fan girls. Plus, they heard Ruka and Hotaru's private conversations.

What a day…

Mikan ended her recall when she felt Natsume moving beside her.

As she observed him longer, she realized the fire caster's face was a little pale and he looked exhausted.

Why not?

He just came back from a mission. And before they could call it a day, the fan girls chased them.

Okay. The fan girls were annoying and making the two worn out by chasing them.

But the one who's extremely exhausted after that was Natsume, considering he just finished doing his mission.

The brunette shifted her gaze from the raven-haired boy to the sky that was painted by dark blue color as the background and a few stars as the ornaments. And in the next second, a cold wind blew from nowhere, making her tremble slightly by touching her delicate nape skin.

Natsume realized this, since he always observed her even though his eyes were closed since a few moments ago. He opened his eyelids, revealing those crimson orbs behind them, and looked at the brunette in front of him.

"Feeling cold?" he asked.

The brunette faced him and smiled a little. "Mm, it's okay."

The crimson-eyed lad knew that she's lying.

He moved his right hand up, reaching for one of her pigtailed-hair, and pulled off the ribbon which tied it while saying, "It's not April Fool again, Stars." And her hair fell smoothly on her shoulder, reaching her waist.

And once again, she blushed at the nickname. "NATSUME! PERV-"

Before she could finish her shout, another pigtail had loosened and the rest of her hair fell onto her shoulder too, covering the delicate skin on her nape.

The raven-haired lad held one of her hands and put the ribbons on her palm.

Then she realized.

He just tried to make her feel warm…

She couldn't help but forget her irritation just now and let a smile make its own way on her lips.

She knew her boyfriend always had his own ways to show his concern and affection.

And she liked his ways.

"Should we go back to the dorm?" she asked, realizing it had almost been dawn at that time.

"I'm not," Natsume said simply. "The fan girls are waiting in front of my room."

The brunette raised her eyebrows at his answer. "How do you know?"

"Because the same thing happened on the Valentine and St. White's Day," he replied nonchalantly while leaning his head on the trunk. "You can go back first."

She fell silent for a while then said, "You can sleep in my room today if you want."

The raven-haired boy opened one of his eyes, thinking for a while before he closed his eyes again and said, "No need. I'm too tired to move anyway."

The brunette looked at him worriedly. She couldn't leave him just like that.

Moreover, after he said that.

"…Are you trying to be alone again?" she muttered.

The lad didn't answer.

In his heart, surely he ever thought of being alone again. He didn't want her to suffer by staying by his side.

Not because of Persona's threatens or the AAO.

It's because of his lifespan…

His lifespan was drained from him slowly every time he used his fire alice.

He could feel it recently. The signs…

He could have collapsed every time and everywhere…

Never opened his eyes again just to see those bright smiles and hazel orbs of hers looking at him with worry, care, tenderness, and love.

Never moved his hands again just to caress that white, soft, delicate skin of hers and run his hands through her long silky auburn hair he always longed for, even though they just separated for a second.

Never again hearing that loud, annoying voice of hers, but also a beautiful soothing voice that could calm him when he needed it.

He afraid he would leave her one day…

While he was drowning in his thought, he suddenly felt something warm rest on his chest and the other warm things wrap around his waist.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked down, just to find an auburn-colored hair resting on his chest.

It's the brunette who leaned her head on him and wrapped her hands around his waist, as if she wanted to be sure that he's secured there.

"Then I'll be here…" she murmured as a small smile was carved on her lips, "…forever…"

Natsume eyed her before he spoke, "Stupid little girl…maybe I'll leave you one day…"

She fell silent as her embrace tightened. "I'll be with you…until that time arrives…" she whispered softly, but it's enough for him to hear. "I won't regret…I'll never regret the day I met you…those days I've spent with you…and next days that I'll go through with you…I 'll always keep that St. White's promise in my heart…"

This time, he's the one who grew quiet, losing words to push her away from him.

And even though he could say the worst one; he wouldn't do it…for she had determined to be with him for the rest of their life…

Natsume put his hands on hers, pulling them off from his waist gently. Mikan lifted her head and looked at him. She saw him taking off his blazer and putting it on her.

He looked at her sternly and said, "Don't blame me if you catch a cold."

At this statement, the brunette smiled warmly at him and leaned her head back on his chest. "I won't…if you keep on staying by my side…" was all she said as she wrapped her hands around his waist again.

Natsume's expression softened. He moved his own hands around her and embraced her back, keeping her warm and secure in that cold night as both of them slowly drifted to sleep.

Unknown to her, he let a little smile gracing his lips…

At that time…

At that words…

Whether she knew it or not, those words were so precious for him and he would cherish it…

That day when they met…

Those days they had gone through together…

This moment…

And the days after this…

He would cherish it forever…

'_Are you trying to be alone again?'_

To this question, he had one answer.

_No, I'm not…_

_I'm just afraid I'll make you sad after I leave one day…_

_But keeping you here by my side…_

_It's the best thing I could do to grant your eternal wish…_

_And I know…_

_That's my deepest wish…_

_To have you here by my side…_

…_Forever…_

**And that's it! The end of Tricky Confession!XD**

**How is it? Do you like it? I'd be glad if you do.**

**For those who's confused by the message, I hope your confusion have been answered here. And for those who likes and loves Natsume and Mikan's stories, I hope this will satisfy you. Yeah! I love Mikan and Natsume!! Hahaha!XD**

**-Cough-**

**Um…So, once again, I thank you all for reading this story and my other stories. **

**I hope you like this chapter. Thanks for reading and please review! I'm happy to get many reviews from you!!XD**

**So, I stop the long sequels from A Miracle Night, What I Want, and A Sweet Retaliation here. Don't be sad okay? There's a possibility to continue it again, if you want it. You can tell me what story you would like me to make, like haruh, who inspired and encouraged me to make Hotaru and Ruka pairing and TADA!! Tricky Confession appeared!! **

**Haha! Thanks, haruh! I thought I'll end it in A Sweet Retaliation!XD**

**And thanks to Irumi Kanzaki, who suggested me to write the 2nd chapter of this story. There wouldn't be an ending like this if I didn't continue it, ne?**

**Oh well, thanks for reading and remember, please review!! See you in the next stories!!XD**


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